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Friday, April 27, 2012

From The Frozen North

Without a doubt Iceland's national final generated a lot of interest and to be honest it has proven that you don't have to be Melodifestivalen to generate fan interest. The result of the final was a foregone conclusion but there was some surprise and shock when Greta Salome and Jonsi didn't win the public vote.

Without a doubt Iceland has entered a big ballad in this years contest. It has a great "raw" Icelandic feel to it, and really reminds me of the sort of Frozen North. Unusually, for a duet, both Jonsi and Greta work extremely good and not only work well together but neither are weaker than the other, a problem that often occurs in duets. The song is exceptionally strong however it does lack a final punch that makes me want to stand up with fists in the air (which I do at the end of a surprising number of anthemic songs).

The problem that I have with the entry is that despite how well it is scoring with fans, it came second with the Icelandic public in the televote, that doesn't fill me with confidence. The other problem is the early running order.

Verdict: These are pretty much the only two problems facing the entry. But two problems with an entry is far less than a good number of songs I've reviewed so far. If this takes off with the public there's no telling how far it will go. I do love it as an entry too. But sometimes in order not to be biased for something we have to be cruel.